Society of King Charles The Martyr - Charles Stuart As An Anglican Martyr

Charles Stuart As An Anglican Martyr

King Charles, head of the House of Stuart, was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his death on 30 January 1649.

Charles believed in a sacramental version of the Church of England, called High Anglicanism, with a theology based upon Arminianism, a belief shared by his main political advisor, Archbishop William Laud. Laud was appointed by Charles as the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633 and started a series of reforms in the Church to make it more ceremonial. This was actively hostile to the Reformist tendencies of many of his English and Scottish subjects. He rejected the Calvinism of the Presbyterians, insisted on an episcopal (hierarchical) form of church government as opposed to presbyterian or congregational forms, and required that the Church of England's liturgy be celebrated with all of the ceremony and vestments called for by the Book of Common Prayer. Many of his subjects thought these policies brought the Church of England too close to Roman Catholicism.

Charles ruled in an era of great religious turmoil in Britain and at the end of the English Civil War he was executed. At his trial, he was charged with attempting to govern as an absolute monarch rather than in combination with Parliament; with fighting against his people; with continuing the war after the defeat of his forces (the continuation is often regarded as the Second English Civil War); with conspiring after defeat to promote yet another continuation; and with encouraging his troops to kill prisoners of war. (Robertson ibid ch 10)

Charles is regarded by many members of the Church of England as a martyr because, it is said, he was offered his life if he would abandon the historic episcopacy in the Church of England. It is said he refused, however, believing that the Church of England was truly "Catholic" and should maintain the Catholic episcopate. His designation in the Church of England's calendar is "Charles, King and Martyr, 1649". Mandell Creighton, Bishop of London, wrote "Had Charles been willing to abandon the Church and give up episcopacy, he might have saved his throne and his life. But on this point Charles stood firm: for this he died, and by dying saved it for the future." In fact, Charles had already made a Covenant with the Scots to introduce Presbyterianism in England in return for the aid of Scots forces in the Second Civil War.

When Charles was beheaded on 30 January 1649, Philip Henry records that a moan was heard from the assembled crowd, some of whom then dipped their handkerchiefs in his blood, thus starting the cult of the Martyr King. However, no other eyewitness source, including Samuel Pepys, records this. Note also that Henry's account was written during the Restoration (i e some 12 years after the event), Henry was 19 when the King was executed, and he and his family were Royalist propaganda writers. (See J Rushworth in R Lockyer (ed) The Trial of King Charles I pp. 133–4)

There is some historical debate over the identity of the man who beheaded the King, who was masked at the scene. It is known the regicides approached Richard Brandon, the common Hangman of London, but that he refused, and contemporary sources do not generally identify him as the King's headsman. Ellis's Historical Inquiries, however, name him as the executioner, stating that he stated so before dying. It is possible he relented and agreed to do the deed, but there are others who have been identified. William Hewlett was tried for the murder after the Restoration and convicted. In 1661, two people identified as "Dayborne and Bickerstaffe" were arrested but then discharged. Henry Walker, a revolutionary journalist, or his brother William, were suspected but never charged. Various local legends around England name local figures.

It was common practice for the head of a traitor to be held up and exhibited to the crowd with the words "Behold the head of a traitor!" Although Charles' head was exhibited, the words were not used. In an unprecedented gesture, one of the prominent leaders of the revolutionaries, Oliver Cromwell, allowed the King's head to be sewn back on his body so the family could pay its respects. Charles was buried privately and at night on 7 February 1649, in the Henry VIII vault inside St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. The King's son, King Charles II, later planned an elaborate royal mausoleum, but this never eventuated.

When the Church and the Monarchy were restored on 29 May 1660, Canterbury and York, being the two primacies of the Church of England, assembled their convocations and added his name to the ecclesiastical calendar in the Book of Common Prayer to be celebrated on the day of his death. In the time of Queen Victoria this was, however, removed upon request by elected representatives of the Commons; 30 January is listed as only a "Lesser Festival." The Feast was restored to the calendar in the Alternative Service Book of 1980 and a new collect composed for Common Worship in 2000. However, the Feast has yet to be restored to the Book of Common Prayer.

There are several Anglican/Episcopal churches dedicated to Charles I as "King and Martyr," in England, Canada, Australia and the United States.